BATTERY CONFIRMATION SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONFIRMING STATE OF CHARGE IN VEHICLE BATTERY

• US 20120119747A1
• Filed: 11/15/2010
• Published: 05/17/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/15/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Sauerwine, Dean S., Kroenke, Christopher D., Cobb, Derrick I.
• Granted Patent: US 8,564,299 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 324/432
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/007 using microprocessors or computers
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/3835 involving only voltage measurements
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/385 Arrangements for measuring battery or accumulator variables for monitoring G01R31/382

Abstract

A battery confirmation system and method for confirming a state of charge in a vehicle battery installed in a vehicle includes a vehicle having a controller, a battery powering the controller, and an onboard diagnostics connector operatively connected to the controller. A tester is connectable to the onboard diagnostics connector. The tester is configured to receive a vehicle operating voltage from the connector when an electrical load on the battery is within a predetermined load range and to determine a SOC value based on the vehicle operating voltage.

Claims

1. A battery confirmation method for confirming a state of charge in a vehicle battery installed in a vehicle, comprising:

connecting a tester to an onboard diagnostics connector of the vehicle;

obtaining a vehicle operating voltage from the onboard diagnostics connector when an electrical load of the battery is within a predetermined load range; and

determining a SOC value based on the vehicle operating voltage.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the vehicle operating voltage is a vehicle operating voltage measurement obtained through the onboard diagnostics connector from the controller, and the method further includes:

obtaining an electrical load measurement representative of the electrical load on the battery from the controller through the onboard diagnostics connector.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the vehicle operating voltage measurement is a voltage measurement taken while the battery is subjected to an electrical load condition.

4. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

providing a pass indication on the tester when the SOC value is greater than or equal to a predetermined SOC pass value and providing a fail indication on the tester when the SOC value is less than the predetermined SOC pass value.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the electrical load measurement and the vehicle operating voltage measurement are taken while an engine of the vehicle is turned off and an ignition switch of the vehicle is turned to a run position or an accessory ON position.

6. The method of claim 2 further including:

adjusting an electrical load condition on the battery when the electrical load measurement is outside the predetermined load range until the electrical load measurement is within the predetermined load range.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein adjusting the electrical load condition on the battery includes automatically adjusting the electrical load condition, and further wherein automatically adjusting the electrical load condition includes sending a command signal from the tester to the controller through the onboard diagnostic connector, the controller changing the on/off state of one or more load devices of the vehicle in response to the command signal.

8. The method of claim 6 wherein adjusting the electrical load condition includes changing the on/off state of headlights on the vehicle for a predefined period of time.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein changing the on/off state of the headlights includes automatically changing the on/off state of the headlights to an ON state and the predetermined period of time is three seconds.

10. The method of claim 2 wherein determining the SOC value includes comparing the vehicle operating voltage measurement, which is taken while the electrical load measurement is within the predetermined load range, to a specific battery load characteristic curve corresponding to the vehicle battery.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein determining the SOC value further includes selecting the specific battery load characteristic curve from a plurality of battery load characteristic curves based on the battery in the vehicle.

12. The method of claim 2 wherein the predetermined load range is from about 13 A to about 19.5 A.

13. The method of claim 2 further including:

extracting a Vin number of the vehicle from the controller through the onboard diagnostics connector to the tester; and

associating the Vin number extracted to the tester with the vehicle operating voltage measurement and the electrical load measurement of the battery as measured by the tester.

14. The method of claim 13 further including:

transferring the vehicle operating voltage measurement and the electrical load measurement of the battery with the associated Vin number to an archive server.

15. The method of claim 2 further including:

charging the battery when the SOC value is below a predetermined SOC pass value prior to shipping the vehicle from a manufacturing facility.

16. A battery confirmation system for confirming a state of charge in a battery, comprising:

a vehicle having a controller, a battery powering the controller, and an onboard diagnostics connector operatively connected to the controller; and

a tester connectable to the onboard diagnostics connector, the tester configured to receive the vehicle operating voltage from the connector when an electrical load on the battery is within a predetermined load range and to determine a SOC value based on the vehicle operating voltage.

17. The battery system of claim 16 wherein the system includes a sensor for obtaining an electrical load measurement on the battery representative of the electrical load and a vehicle operating voltage measurement representative of the vehicle operating voltage, and the tester communicates with the controller through the onboard diagnostics connector, the tester configured to receive the electrical load measurement taken by the sensor from the controller representative of the electrical load on the battery and to determine whether the electrical load measurement is within a predetermined load range.

18. The battery system of claim 17 wherein the tester is further configured to command the controller to adjust an electrical load condition on the battery when the electrical load measurement is outside the predetermined load range.

19. The battery system of claim 17 wherein the tester is further configured to receive a VIN number stored by the controller corresponding to the vehicle and associate the VIN number with the electrical load measurement and the vehicle operating voltage measurement, the system further including an archive server operatively connectable to the tester for receiving and archiving the VIN number, the electrical load measurement and the vehicle operating voltage measurement.

20. The battery system of claim 17 wherein the tester includes a display that displays a pass indication when the SOC value is greater than or equal to a predetermined SOC pass value and/or displays a fail indication when the SOC value is less than the predetermined SOC pass value.

21. The battery system of claim 17 wherein the tester is further configured to compare the vehicle operating voltage measurement to a specific battery load characteristic curve corresponding to the battery, the specific battery load characteristic curve selected from a plurality of battery load characteristic curves based on the battery in the vehicle.

22. A method for confirming state of charge in vehicles exiting a production line, comprising:

connecting a line-end tester to an controller of each of the vehicles through an onboard diagnostics connector operatively connected to the controller;

obtaining an electrical load measurement from the controller through the onboard diagnostics connector for each vehicle;

obtaining a vehicle operating voltage measurement from the controller through the onboard diagnostics connector for each vehicle when the electrical load measurement is within a predetermined load range; and

determining a SOC value for each vehicle based on the vehicle operating voltage measurement;

passing or failing each vehicle based on the SOC value.